we are shocked about the news that the airline company Zagros Air, represented by the Frankfurt travel agency Aliraq Aviation Travel GmbH, is earning money by deporting Iraqi refugees from Germany. The more, we find it shameful that Zagros Air has repeatedly confirmed not to aceept any more flight bookings for
deportations, but has now, contradictory to previous promises, started again to carry out deportation flights.

As You probably know, thousands of Iraqi citizens from Northern Iraq/ South Kurdistan have fled their country during the time of the Saddam Hussein- regime to find shelter in Germany. Most of them supported their families who stood back home and thus contributed substatially to the stability, the reconstruction
and the autonomy of the Kurdish regions. As the economic embargo by the United Nations also incuded the Kurdish autonomous region and thus even small money transfers for family members were forbidden, many of the Iraqi/Kurdish refugees got high court sentences for supporting their families. These people and all
other refugees whose refugee status was withdrawn by the German authorities, shall now be deported to Iraq.

This is happening while the refugee drama in Iraq has come to a crucial extent. 700000 refugees from other parts of Iraq are actually said to be staying in the Kurdish provinces. The fact that the rich country of Germany is aggravating this refugee crisis by deporting people is a crucial breach of solidarity between the peoples.

Germany is even disregarding the recommandations of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees. His recommandations state that a return to South-Kurdistan can only be voluntary and is only possible for those who still have family ties there. However, the deportation order of the interior minister of the German region of Bavaria states that all refugees are to be deported that were merely born in South-Kurdistan or Kirkuk, even if they have never lived there or if they have no more relatives living there anymore.
We also want to inform You that a part of the persons who shall be deported doesn‘t even have valid Iraqi traveling documents. They are supposed to enter Iraq with so-called European Union- traveling certificates. Hardly any government tolerates such practices – the only exception is Kosovo, which is under the control of UN-administration. We would be really astonihed if the Kurdish administration or the Iraqi government would tolerate such clear violation of state sovereignity, in fact this would create a really bad impression of the authorities concerned. In case that entering Iraq with these EU-traveling certificates should fail, Your company is liable for transporting the people concerned back to Germany, as the transport of passengers without
valid traveling documents is forbidden according to international agreements on aviation.
We also want to point out that there is no law obliging Your company to carry out deportation filghts. Every airline company has the right to refuse the transport of any passenger who is not traveling voluntarily, but who is transported against his or her own will.

Please do not support the plans of German authorities to deport refugees to Iraq! Do not provide Your company for this shabby business! Otherwise, we are sure that the practices of carrying out deportations will convince many of Your clients, who travel to Erbil to visit their families or to do business, not to fly with Zagros Air any more. This means that doing business with deportations will create big economic damage for You.

We demand from Zagros Air:
Do not accept any more bookings for deportation flights!
All previous bookings for deportation flights have to be cancelled immediately!

Maybe you haven‘t seen – the text is once in german, and, below that, once in english. The text originated from a campaign against deportations into Iraq. As you probably know, a lot of iraqi refugees in Europe live in the danger of beeing deported, because since the fall of Hussein Iraq is considerd „safe“ by European politicians. This is wrong, of course. Zagros Air is the airline, by which most deportations from Germany into Iraq are beeing conducted, hence the call for boycott. If they feel that they will loose many customers because of taking part in the deportation business, they might cease to do deportation flights.
Right now, the homepage – irak.antira.info – of the campaign against deportations into Iraq is only in german. However, you can reach them via e-mail: kontakt (at) bleiberechtsbuero.de
They all know english, and mails in kurdish or arabic might be answered too, but that would take longer.

The international federation of iraqi refugees (IFIR) has a lot of material about this, in english, kurdish and arabic (and maybe other languages). As of now, their website federasion.org is somewhat broken. However, you can use google to find their documents in different languages, by following this link.

I hope you will find the information you need there, and I also hope that you will support the campaign against deportations into Iraq by spreading the information about the different deportation airlines.
Lastly, I‘m curious about how you found my site and if you have specific interest in this matter. I‘ve looked at your homepages, but I didn‘t understand one word.